Don’t Move

There is an instinct that all living beings have, it is called “fight or flight”.  It is the thing we do when adrenalin kicks in.  It can be instigated by fear or pressure or stress.  It is a natural part of our make-up.  It is what we do without the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We either run or stand firm against the attack. 

However, if we are rooted in Christ we will always stand firm.  Let this scripture go down into your heart, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:1-3 (NRS) (Emphasis mine)

Now, consider that you are that tree and the Holy Spirit is the river that your roots are drinking from as they are deeply rooted in the soil of Christ.  No matter what storm or disaster comes at you, you don’t budge.  You stand firm, as do the other trees around you creating a forest of security for those who enter into it.

Yes, you may lose some leaves, a bit of fruit or even a limb or two in the onslaughts of the in-climate weather, but your roots and trunk are still there, aren’t they?

There will even be seasons when you go dormant, your leaves and growth seemingly dead, but this is actually a time of refreshing and renewal.  When the Spring comes, you will have new leaves and fruit.  Each year more abundant than the last.

To truly be able to stand firm, you have to keep yourself from the ways of the world.  “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thess. 4:11-12 (NIV) (Emphasis mine)  In the world everyone is always in everybody else’s business.  Judging and criticizing, this is a critical spirit and is not of Christ.  If you find yourself doing this….your moving…  “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Cor. 15:58 (NIV) (Emphasis mine)

How completely are you giving yourself to the work of the Lord?  Do you give Him the time leftover in your day, week, or even your month?  Psalm 1 states that we can stand firm if we meditate on His word day and night.  Not just when things are going poorly, or when we are at church.  Our pursuit of holiness must be consistent.  We have to inundate our lives with Him, as He inundates His thoughts with us.  If He didn’t we wouldn’t exist.  He never forgets about us for one nanosecond, can we say the same?  When we hear something are we praying to ask God how we should be responding to it, rather than just having a knee-jerk “old-mind” reaction?  If not, we are moving, not standing firm.

If you want to stand firm and not be moved you have to dig deep into His word and drink deeply of what the Holy Spirit has to give.  There is a reason Jesus used the metaphor of “living water” when He referred to Him.  (See the story of the woman at the well in John 4).

Would you like to live a life where the situations and circumstances of life do not move you.  Become like the tree in Psalm 1 by reading, meditating, praying, and communing with God day and night.  Walk as one with Him, and as He promised, “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  John 4:14 (NIV)  This water allows us all to grow, bear fruit, and stand firm.  Because, we can’t bear fruit if we are always moving.  At the very least, it will fall off from the motion of our own movement.

From Light for My Path – Prayers & Promises

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  1 John 5:5 (NIV)

When worldly temptations press in on me, I’m glad You gave me this promise, Jesus.  It’s hard to be in the world and not fall into its traps.  But as I believe in You, who have overcome the world, I overcome it, too.  I don’t have to settle for giving in to the world’s temptations and wickedness.  You’ve given me the ability to fight back, in You – and to win through You.

I want to enjoy Your blessings for this life without being trapped in wrong thoughts or actions.  Where You have overcome, I don’t need to be defeated.  Keep me faithful to You, Jesus, and my battle will be won.

In Jesus name,

Amen.

A Proverbs 31 Woman's Life: Man Pleasers

A Proverbs 31 Woman's Life: Man Pleasers: "“On the contrary we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our he..."

Man Pleasers

“On the contrary we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.  We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” 1 Thes. 2:4 (Emphasis mine).

When you get up in the morning I am sure the first thought that goes through your mind is NOT, “How can I please my spouse, my children, my boss, etc.. today?”  For many of us it is not even about how to please God.  Our first thoughts on waking are about the issues and problems of the day ahead.

However, this is a form of “man pleasing.”  Why?  Because you are putting the things of this earth before God.  No matter what was coming at Paul, Silas and Timothy they always looked to God for their direction and instruction.  The trial or issue that you are going through is nothing more than a test to show you what is most important to you.

God already knows what is in our hearts, but so many times we do not.  We think that we are doing the Christian walk.  In fact, it is pretty simple to be a Christian when all is well.  It is easy to say, “Bless you sisters, God be with you brother,” when all is right in our world.  Even, “Let me pray for you,” comes easier when we are not going through something.

The true “test” of God in your heart is when you are going through a trial.  This is when you will discover if you are a man pleaser or a God pleaser.  Men pleasers are focused on themselves.  They are concerned with what people think of them and what they do.  They are quite often trying to make an impression, get a compliment, or “seem” pious because people say so, even trying to get people to focus on their problems, exclusively.

God pleasers on the other hand are not concerned for their own well-being.  They are consistently looking to show the love of God to others.  Even if it means putting themselves out, (that is called sacrifice), they will do it.  Whatever is going on in their own lives takes second place to helping others achieve and maintain their faith in Christ.

This doesn’t mean that you are not “aware” of what is happening around you.  Paul quite often recited all that he had been through, but then he amended it by bragging about the fact that all these things only proved that he was weak and God was strong, that he was dependent on the One who created him in the beginning.  That he trusted the Lord for all things, and no matter what he was going through he knew that Christ was the goal.

Read through his letters, most times they were written from prison.  He had been flogged, stoned, shipwrecked, lost at sea, the list goes on, yet not once did he ever say, “Woe is me.”  He even had a physical ailment that he said God would not heal him of, (for those who are of the mind that God heals every ailment if we believe enough, the key is for us to be in line with His will wherever it leads, not focused on the cure for the disease.)  He says that the answer to his petition to God for relief was, “But He told me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Cor 12:9

God will give you the grace to get through whatever it is that comes at you.  The key is to stay focused on Him and not your circumstance.  This takes a humble and contrite heart that is willing to be completely dependent on God and not our own abilities to rectify a situation. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (Emphasis mine)

What is in our heart is the key, for this is where we all act and react from.  When His word has saturated our hearts, it pumps out like life blood to others.  This can only happen when He is the reason for our actions, then we can be assured that we will be God pleasers and not man pleasers.

From Light for My Path – Prayers & Promises

Father, sometimes I get things backward, thinking that if I am successful in life I will be of better service to You.  I’ll have more money, more time.  Then people will listen to me; I’ll have influence and power to use for Your kingdom. Sometimes it does work out this way, but normally if I become successful, I end up doing no more work for You then I did before.

Help me to realize that humility and doing Your will should come first, no matter what my present situation is.  Help me keep my eyes on You, and the rest will take care of itself.

You Have a Spirit of Power, Love, & Self-Discipline

 

So many people can recite the first part of the verse from 2Timothy 1:7 on fear, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity…”, but often the second part of that sentence that Paul wrote in his last letter to anyone is forgotten.  “but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”  It is very important that you see the contrast. This is the NIV translation of this verse.

In the Amplified translation, it says it this way, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

WOW!  What this word meant in the Greek was not simply timidity, but cowardice, to be a craven, cringing coward, trembling in fear from what others might think of us.  That is what this verse is about.  Paul was instructing Timothy to keep the fire alive in him that God had originally sparked by imparting gifts or talents in Him to help him to bless others through teaching and preaching.  Letting him know to not worry about what others think, and do what God had called him to do regardless of what anyone else might think.

The Holy Spirit in us fills us with power, love, and self-discipline.  These emotions and thought patterns by their very nature override any type of fear that could try to assail us. 

Like Timothy, we are all put into a position, when fulfilling the destiny that God created us for, we become a little afraid, sometimes a lot afraid.  That’s okay, we have to go on in spite of that fear.  Two scriptures scream to the forefront at this sentiment.  Romans 8:28 and Philippians 4:13 – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” and “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

It really doesn’t matter what outcome we are shooting for, our aim and purpose should be to bring people into a relationship or closer relationship with Christ and not worry about ourselves or what they may think of us for speaking up or using our God-given gifts. 

We have a society that is so concerned with what others think that our kids are now going to school and shooting each other because they were humiliated in front of other.  Or, entire reputations are being destroyed by viral photos or videos that were taken at inopportune moments.  Why?  It’s funny, it’s fun to point fingers at someone else… 

How about the fact that there are drugs that have been created to incapacitate a victim so you can rape them and then make sure that they can’t press charges because it wipes their memory?

These are the norms, not exceptions to the rules.  Jesus said that our society would basically start to crumble in on itself and it has.  We as Christians don’t have to give in to that, however.  We are to be “as wise as snakes, but as gentle as dove,” according to Matthew 10:16.  This means to be aware of the evils, but not get involved in them.  We have nothing to fear from anyone in the world, because “…If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Romans 8:31b

We don’t have to behave as they do.  We are to hold ourselves to a higher standard.  With the spirit of power, love and self-discipline we can do just that.  Power, love and self-discipline are all contrary to fear.  There is no power in fear, there is no love in fear, and there is no self-discipline in fear.  The two cannot reside within you at the same time, you must give up one spirit for the other.  Either you can have the very shallow one-dimensional spirit that will keep you under its thumb and from moving forward or you can kick him to the curb and embrace and use the Holy Spirit with all the abilities He gives you to use the gifts you have had within you from the time you were born.  He gave you the dreams, let Him fulfill His promises that He gave you when He put them in your heart, with the talents to fulfill them.  Oh, and stop listening to Satan or his disciple the spirit of fear or cowardice.  Just a hint…they LIE!

We are at war, there is no room for people who are cowards when fighting a war.  It doesn’t mean you won’t feel some fear, that is natural, but you charge into the fray anyway no matter how afraid you are.  Spiritual warfare means using all that spiritual power to render the enemy defenseless, use spiritual love to love them into salvation, and spiritual self-discipline to have the wisdom to pick your battles properly.  See, after all that there is no room left for timidity.

 

From LIGHT FOR MY PATH – PRAYERS & PROMISES

How wonderful, Father God, to know that even my most feared enemy does not have final control over me.  Even if he put me to death, he could not part my soul from Your love.

I’m not facing death today, but I face fears that feel like death.  That killjoy, Satan, tells me that by following You, I kill off every chance to fulfill certain hopes and dreams.  A thousand small deaths attack my soul. 

Keep me obedient to Your love; help me trust that You will bring me good things.  I need faith to see blessings instead of fears.

He’s Right There

So many times we get very fixed on the thing in front of us.  We let what is going on around us cause us to fear.  Did you know that fearing circumstances and situations is a sin?  It shows a lack of faith in your heavenly Father’s ability to take care of you and the situation.

An example of how this irritates our Lord is in Matthew 9:26, Jesus says something to His disciples I would never want to hear from Him, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  What was He talking about?  A boat ride across a lake.  The disciples had recently witnessed, first hand, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, they watched as He healed a man of leprosy, they were surely amazed by the report of the Centurion's daughter who had been healed by his amazing faith, He even healed Peter’s mother-in-law.  All these things had transpired prior to boarding the boat to the other side of he lake.

Jesus was comfortable, the rocking of the water was probably very soothing.  Soon He was sleeping and as He slept a storm came in over the lake.  The disciples woke Him terrified of the storm, not focused on the fact that God in the flesh was sitting in the boat with them asleep or not.  If He wasn’t concerned about the storm, why were they?

This story truly parallels our own Christian walk.  How many times do we get distracted from our pursuit and relationship with God because of circumstances.  The winds and waves of life start to blow and toss our tiny vessel and we often quickly forget that God is in the boat with us, and He’s not concerned.  To worry or fret about these “outside” influence is a sin, because in essence you are saying that you believe that they are bigger and stronger than God is.  “You of little faith,” 

Faith requires that we hold fast to the promise that God has given us in the situation and forget about the elements.  Do you really think Jesus would have gotten into that boat if He had thought there was any chance they wouldn’t make it to the other side?  When we start to get upset He is asking us “Why are you afraid? Don’t you trust Me?”  Your fear is a way of saying that you don’t and perhaps you may not really believe He is who He says He is or can do what He says He can do.

In Psalms 66:12, a clear statement is made about how God deals with us and situations.  “You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us to a place of abundance.”  Sound familiar?  Been through some fire and water places recently?  Feel like men are riding over your heads?  That’s okay, because God will bring you to a place of abundance if you stand firm in Your faith in who He is and what He can do.

From Light for My Path – Prayers & Promises

All things are possible to him that believes  Mark 9:23

What an amazing promise this is, Lord!  I can hardly believe You wrote this to me.  You’ve opened so many doors to me, simply because I have faith in You.

I know that amazing promise doesn’t mean I can demand anything I want.  There are plenty of wrong things in this world – or things that would simply be wrong for me – that Your promise doesn’t automatically cover.  But You have given me an open door to all the good things You offer me, all the positive things that I can do, and all the challenges You want me to overcome.

When it comes to the things You say are right, I don’t want to think too small.  All things are possible to You.

Word of Mouth

How powerful do you think your words are?  Do you think you have the power to make the difference in someone’s life by what you say?  Do you believe you have the power to make the difference in your own life by what you say? 

Word of mouth, is a saying for something that is not written down but is passed down or around from one person to the next by verbal statements.  It has more power than the most expensive advertising campaign.  It can make or break a business.  It can also make or break a person. 

Proverbs 18:8 gives a very clear warning about gossip, which is what “word of mouth” can be considered at times.  “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.”  They don’t just touch you on the surface, they go deep within and can hurt you, or others.

What is more important about the words of our mouth is how much damage we can do to ourselves.  When we don’t feel good about ourselves, we tend to lash out and hurt others to cover up for the hurt we feel inside.  This is referred to as projection in psychology.  Another term in psychology is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you tell yourself that you are not very good, that you cannot succeed at anything, you will subconsciously do everything you can to make sure that you are just that.  Many times those thoughts and ideas were “planted” by your parents or some other authority figure.  Those words went down into your innermost parts and took root.

The way to get those “weeds” out is to start seeing yourself as God created you.  You have to stop listening to the lies of the enemy.  God did not make you to doubt yourself.  The words of your mouth should be mimicking what God says about you, not man or Satan.  If we go to Psalm 18:32 we find, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”  Not makes my way imperfect or makes me weak.  We are strong in Him and perfect.  That is not arrogance that is assurance, blessed assurance.

You must start changing the words that come from your mouth to positive affirmations.  Start saying “I will NEVER belittle myself!  I will NEVER criticize myself!  I did NOT make myself!  GOD MADE ME!  I am HIS workmanship!  I will NOT criticize or put down what He has made!”  You see when you start talking badly about yourself or anyone else for that matter you are judging God’s handiwork.  Is that really your place?

The words of our mouth have so much power.  We can lift up or we can tear down all based upon what we say to ourselves and each other.  Each word that we utter is a seed that we are planting in the hearts of those who are listening.  It may be our own ears, it may be our spouse’s ears, it may be our children’s ears, it may be our grandchildren’s ears, it may be another family member’s ears, it may be a friends’ or peers’ ears, it may be a complete stranger it really doesn’t matter, what does matter is that we make sure that we are using our word of mouth to edify as God has ordained.

Everything that was created was created by word of mouth.  Read Genesis, God spoke and creation began.  Even Lucifer’s fall came about not because of his thoughts but because of the words of his mouth.

We will not be judged by our thoughts, but by our words and deeds.  When we learn to control our mouths, we will find that we have subsequently learned to control our thoughts.  They go hand in hand.  When you put the breaks on your tongue and let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you, your thought life will follow along.  The negativity that was a ruling part of your being will be ushered out, and positive light will flow through you and from you to others as His Spirit touches the lives of others around you. 

Remember, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:15-17  Speaking negative words are like putting your light under a bowl.  How can anyone see your light through all that darkness?

We reap what we sow, and we sow with our mouths.  Are you up to the challenge of controlling yours to sow light and life into yours and others lives?

From Light For My Path – Prayers & Promises

My Email has an option to “unread” an Email.  Although I don’t know any specific purpose for such a feature, I do wish for an “unsay” option for my mouth.  I am often dismayed at what I say and regret that the words cannot be taken back.

Lord, I pray that I will put my mind in gear before putting my mouth in motion.  Instead of causing division and hurt, let my words uplift and bless.  I pray that my conversations will bring unity and hope.

In Jesus name,

Amen

A Proverbs 31 Woman's Life: Say What?

A Proverbs 31 Woman's Life: Say What?: "Do you ever think about what you talk about? About the words that are coming out of your mouth. As Chris Tucker said in that mov..."